Daeva
It has been assumed for some time that the daevas of the Mazda faith are the same as the Vedic devas and therefore Zarathushtra inverted the deva-asura dichotomy of the Vedic period. In reality, the situation is more complex and the Vedic and the Zarathushtrian systems are much less different than is generally supposed. From Kashmir, which belongs square within the Vedic world, comes crucial evidence regarding a three-way division consisting of devas, asuras, and daevas. The scheme reflects the three fundamental gunas of Indian thought: sattva, rajas, and tamas. *'Deva', or devata (sattva): power related to understanding *Asura (rajas): power related to activity *'Daeva' (tamas): power related to acquisitiveness Kashmiri folklore is full of tales where daevas are counterpoints to devas and asuras. Sometimes the term rakshasa is used as a synonym for daeva. This term rakshasa occurs very frequently in Sanskrit literature. The word rakshas appears in the Rigveda, the Aitareya Brahmana and it is also considered equivalent to Nirriti. The rakshasa form of marriage is the violent seizure or rape of a girl after the defeat or destruction of her relatives. It is entirely possible that the term daeva came into Kashmir late as a result of the immigration of Persians. If that were the case, the reason why it took root is because it served as a synonym for an existing idea. It is equally possible that the term has been current in Kashmir from ancient times and its usage there parallels that by Zarathushtra from the nearby Bactria. The Vedic view is to see the world in triple categories. Later Puranic gloss simplified this into dichotomies like that of deva versus asura (including rakshasa). Zarathushtra made a similar simplification using the dichotomy of asura (including deva under the label yazata) and daeva. The asuras are the ground on which the devas emerge; likewise, without proper action one can slip into the false path. The Zarathushtrian reduction is not particularly different from the Puranic. .. The list of common deities and concepts will make it clear that the Zoroastrian system is essentially the same as the Vedic one. The presence of Indra in the list of the daevas seems to mirror the relegation of Indra that started in the Puranic times where instead of connecting to Svar through the intermediate region of which Indra is lord, a direct worship of the Great Lord (Vishnu or Shiva) was stressed. This innovation is not counter to the Vedic system since the triple division is a recursive order. The devas are a part of the good forces in the Zoroastrian system under the label of yazata (yajata, the adored-ones). .. Zarathushtra brought a new element into the picture from the northeast. Linguistically, he happened to be "h" speaking in opposition to the Indic "s" speaking as in haptah versus saptah for week, or hvar versus svar for the Sun. He also brought the categorization of good versus evil onto the framework to create a new structure which was to be influential in the shaping of the Judeo-Christian tradition.